Cultivation
by ButterZToast
Summary: Naruto was not the smartest in his class nor was he the strongest; but he has a heart of gold and a mind unconstricted. Before the shinobi era there was another power; not one suited for the faint hearted. Through the power of cultivation one can go beyond the constrictions of chakra and reach the gods.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The ways of the past

Chakra. A mixture of physical and spiritual energy. With it, the impossible becomes possible. The ability to manipulate this energy is the key to higher standings; Women, money and land are more available to those deeply bonded with it.

And yet, the breakthroughs on how to use the mystical energy has slowed. The once pioneers long gone only leaving their descendants to sit on the thrones they built in the names of clans. The most prominent is the Uchiha clan; a clan once feared for their majestic fire jutsu's and ruthlessness now nothing but fools proud of accomplishments their ancestors achieved hundreds of years ago.

All the other clans are the same to a degree. There has been no huge advancement therefore in my eyes no future for chakra. The current stigma of satisfaction for stagnation is repulting and will only lead to an eventual downfall.

"Magnificent" I said to myself as I sat down with a book in my hand; my back rested on a massive book shelf of Konoha's great library. Surrounding me piles of books, my backpack and my open lunch container containing wrappers and a half eaten ham sandwich.

I took another bite of the sandwich and continued reading on. The book was named The God of Martials by the protagonist Lin Fei. The book described his life; a once shamed son of a city clan head and his journey to become the God of Martial Arts. The adventures he went on, monsters he faced and achievements he accomplished astound me.

By the time I finished the book it was dark out. Putting the books around me back and packing up my bag I went home with a goal in mind; cultivate.

**Naruto's home 10 days later…**

"Sir, do you think something… bad has happened to Naruto Hokage-sama?" a tall lengthy tan man asked. The man wore konoha's chunin uniform; blue open toe sandals, baggy black pants, a chunin body armor and his headband. On the bridge of his nose was a long scar running perpendicularly stopping just reaching each of his eyes.

"I am sure he is fine Iruka-kun" an old gravely voice returned to his subordinate. This was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third hokage of Konoha or the professor. The man was shorter than iruka by a little less than half a foot but don't get things twisted. He did not get the job as head honcho of the strongest village in the world because of his knowledge.

He was the student of the previous two hokages, a man who had lived through all 3 great shinobi wars leading the latter two. While his figure is small, his body was battle hardened. Scars littered his tanned wrinkled body if you could see past his giant white robe which covered even his ankles.

The wise man pulled a small wooden pipe out of his spacious sleeve, using chakra to heat it. The younger man looked at his leader still unsure, mixed with guilt as it took him 10 days to come and visit his student.

The older man seeing his turmoil put his pipe away. "I bet my grandson has just gotten hooked on a new video game. You kids these days" he finished with a scoff not understanding the appeal of video games when you could be training to do the real thing.

He gave the door three knocks and waited. Then waited some more before kicking the door down.

"I taught you better than to keep guests waiting, my grandson!" the old hokage scolded loudly half way in the door with fire in his eyes. He was very passionate in his teaching and expecting those he taught to heed his words.

He froze when he found the boy sitting on the floor of his kitchen in a position he was very much familiar with. His eyes narrowed. 'Where did Naruto learn the 'gathering of the heavens' technique?'

While he was having his inner monologue Iruka caught up to him. The instructor smiled before taking an angry face "Naruto you-" he began angrily at the boy for making him worried but was stopped by his superior. He looked and was surprised at the serious face of the older man.

The older man pulled the sleeve of his right hand up and took the wrist of his right hand with his left. His right hand formed into the kai sign. His fingertips became engulfed in rich, blue flames and he made his way over to the boy.

Iruka stared at the flames intrigued at what his leader was doing. He was also curious about the flames wrapped around his superiors fingers. He could tell that it wasn't chakra. Whatever it was, he trusted the older man to not harm his student.

When the hokage made it over to the boy he put his flame covered fingers to the middle of the boy's forehead.

"Heavenly Ejection" the man said out loud as the flames from his fingers transversed from him to Naruto's forehead. The flames then began to thin out from the middle of his forehead getting smaller before engulfing his whole body. Then the flames began disappearing as if being sucked into the younger boy's body.

Iruka just looked on in shock as he had never seen such a thing.

Slowly his students' eyes began to open and he was shocked. Instead of seeing the bright blue eyes of his favorite student he met pitch black, like the deepest pits of hell.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Understanding

'This is incredible' Naruto thought as he gazed upon the sight in front of him. He was floating in a voidlike space; darkness surrounding his entire being. Floating in front of him was a translucent blue sphere sized at a little over half his height.

The inside of the sphere was as violent as a hurricane as a sort of blue energy whirled chaotically. At first glance Naruto knew the energy was chakra; specifically his. What he didn't understand was the sphere containing it.

He looked around him-At the seemingly never ending darkness which his chakra could expand to then back to the ball. Whatever this constriction was he would find a way to get rid of it and allow his chakra to expand. On the other hand he was afraid of the consequences of doing so.

Would he die? Would breaking the sphere somehow cripple his ability to use chakra. Would-

**Oh? It has been a long time since a human has delved this deep into their mind**

Naruto looked around, scanning every angle to find nothing. He gulped as he was a sitting duck. "Who are you? Show yourself!" He commanded anxious and fearful for his well being. Deep snickers could be heard from the being.

**Oh me? Well, you wouldn't know me and I kind of can't show myself in my current… situation. Although it has been quite a long time since I have met a human who has reached their core energy… I shall humor you. **

**I am a being who has lived for thousands of years. I have seen the fall of the greatest empires, the discovery of revolutionary technology, the extinction of species… You may ask me one question and I will answer it to the best of my abilities.**

Naruto looked startled. The being was giving him the opportunity to ask any question he desired but it had to be within it's wisdom. Without a question Naruto knew asking about the sphere was the safest choice but there were so many things he wished he could ask.

Who were his parents? What is the single greatest wisdom you could give to me? What came first, the egg or the chicken? Instead of those Naruto chose the one he was most curious about.

"Tell me all you know about this core energy" Naruto demanded while pointing at the sphere of energy. The being cleared his throat.

**That sphere is not the core energy itself although it is a very important part of it. You see this whole place you see is your core energy or rather you humans have named it 'the gate of death'.**

**As you may know the human body has 361 tenketsu's all systematically placed throughout the body. With these nodes shinobi are able to manipulate chakra; changing the energies properties into the elements, adhesives and healing just to name a few usages.**

**Each of the tenketsu are encoded with laws or rules on how to manipulate chakra. Every node is encoded the same way except 8.**

"The 8 gates, am I correct?" Naruto cut off the being as his curiosity was at its peak.

**Do not cut me off again or I am going to stop. Do you understand?**

Naruto nodded.

**Now, the 8 gates are special. Each one of them is bigger than all the other tenketsu put together. This in turn makes their passage ways able to transverse chakra much faster in much more abundance to the body. The problem is the other tenketsus other than the 8 are much smaller meaning if they were to oversend chakra to the regulars the node would implode.**

**At their current state they are used as limiters. That limit varies person to person; for a civilian that percentage would be miniscule compared to a kage. However, limiters were not the 8's main design.**

**Opening, Healing, Pain, Limit, View, Wonder and 'Death'**

**Most of the names appointed by you humans point associate with their main purpose but some are just misleading. For example, the Gate of Opening is thought to remove the users mental inhibitions allowing them to use 100% of their brain.**

**Instead the gate of opening does what its name implies. The name is only half right as the gate can also shrink or close the users tenketsus all together. This controls the size of all tenketsus, in the process controlling all energy flow throughout the body.**

**The gates of Healing, Pain and Limit are all very similar and yet have distinct enough differences. Healing rapidly increases the users healing capabilities to extraordinary speed. The only drawback is that the faster the user force heals the more stored fat and energy. If all the fat on the user's body is eaten it will start eating away at muscle then organs and bones. The gate can kill without the user knowing.**

**The gate of pain is the opposite of the gate of healing as chakra is sent to all pain receptors in the body and shut off putting the user in a zombie-like state. Any damage is not felt by the user but its effects still exist. In fact the user is more likely to die in this state than any other.**

**The gate of limit is the most stable of all the nodes as it takes chakra is distributed evenly among all parts of the body increasing every aspect of the users body multiple folds.**

**View and Wonder are wildcards. They vary for each person but from what I have seen they each surround the ideology of their names.**

**And lastly the gate of death. The name is misleading as opening this gate is the cause of death. In reality this gate should be called the gate of law as with it the user can directly change the way it handles chakra. The reason every user dies when they open the gate is because they have all the gates open.**

**Now, before I get into the rest… Any questions?**

"I thought I could only ask one question"

**So you don't have any questions On to the ne-**

"No, nonono I have a question. How does opening all the gates kill you? Are there any exceptions to which gates can be open at the same time?"

**Hmm well the easiest way to explain your first question is they simply expend energy faster than they can replenish it. Opening one of the gates is exhausting; the user is usually in a state of duress to the point of being unable to stand without support but when they open all 8? They are just asking for death.**

**For your next question hmm. It is possible but it depends on the abilities of your wildcard tenketsus. For example a man I knew was able to open 3 nodes at a time because one of his wildcards had the ability to convert nature energy from around him into his chakra... As I said, it depends on your wildcards.**

"Hmm is there anyway to tell which wildcard nodes I have?"

**No**

"Shoot… proceed"

**Alright! Now as I said before that sphere in front of you is not your core energy. That sphere is the encoding of your tenketsus.**

"Hmm so all the tenketsus in my body except the 8 look like this but much smaller?"

"**Human what did I- ah whatever. Yes- oh... well actually no."**

"What do you mean no?"

"**Well, under… certain circumstances all your tenketsus are the same size…"**

"..."

"**..."**

"Well aren't you going to explain? I thought you said that my regular nodes were suppose to be smaller than the 8?"

"**Well I would but… I have never seen this before. You know what, just go touch it and you'll understand what's wrong with you… weirdo ok bye!"**

"Wait… I don't know how to move in here" Naruto called out to the being only to be met with silence. 'Well, this is my mind so…' Naruto thought before trying to command the sphere to come to him. He threw his hand out and made a come over here gesture with his fingers only to avail no response.

Next he tried to butterfly stroke but still stayed in the same place. He stopped a minute later and began to think. 'How am I going to do this? Ugh, I wish I asked before he left. It's not like I can say come and it wou-' "oof!" Naruto let out as the sphere launched into his stomach.

He didn't register the pain as right when the sphere made contact his mind was flooded with information.

"T-this…" Naruto trailed off with his mouth wide open but if anyone could see his eyes they could tell he wasn't there. He saw everything, he understood everything.

Slowly the world around him began to crumble; the darkness gained cracks and not long after shattered leaving a dark, murky gray. Under Naruto a platform spreading further than the eye could see appeared and he began to levitate down.

When his feet touched the floor he regained consciousness. He looked at his hands starting from his left making his way to the right. He had never felt anything like it. Not after gaining a grandfather, meeting his sensei/older brother nor his first bowl of ramen could ever compare.

For the first time he felt complete. Unknowingly to him as he was too busy processing the information given to him two energies in his body merged. One a beautiful blue the other a cloudy murder red to make a seductive purple. He closed his eyes and when he opened them they were pitch black.

In front of him were his sensei and grandfather. He understood what he needed to do.

"I'm leaving konoha"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Departure

"I understand" was the hokages response to the blondes decision. He was no fool nor was he ignorant to what has awakened in his grandson. Naruto's eyes weren't the only deciding factor in his decision of letting the blonde go out into the world but his aura. Before it was untamed, a violent typhoon of blue energy but now a mischievous purple, dark to the point where the regular eye would perceive it as black.

Iruka was shell shocked at the blondes declaration but even more so with the hokages response. "Hokage-sama, Naruto is just an academy student! He cannot be let out into the world alone! He is also irreplaceable due to his… uh." Iruka finished smartly as he remembered the law surrounding his little brother.

"I know brother" Naruto responded after hearing Iruka dance around the subject of the beast contained within him. The academy teacher looked at the blonde in shock.

"H-how do you-" Iruka began before being cut off by his student.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head while his face contorted in discomfort. "How do I put this…" he pondered aloud. Before he could answer the hokage cut in.

"Iruka-kun please go back to teaching your class. I have something to discuss with my grandson" the hokage finished with a tone that left no other option but to leave.

Iruka left the blonde orphans home but not without a heavy, concerned heart. Naruto looked at his grandfather but this time felt like the first time he could actually see the man for who he was. The aura surrounding him was terrifying. The most noticeable of all was the monkey- no, King Gorilla shape it took. The dark brown color only made it seem more oppressive and dangerous.

The aura disappeared as the older man stood up and made his way to the teapot. He began brewing tea. As he made it no words were exchanged between the two, Naruto only stared at the back of his grandfather. When the tea was done and filled in two cups he sat back down and slid a cup to the blonde.

After the both of them took a sip Hiruzen began. "I approve of your decision" he said firmly. Naruto looked at him unimpressed. "But, I cannot let you go out into the world without backup" the hokage finished before taking another sip of his tea. With a sigh he put his tea cup on the table and looked his grandson in the eyes. He was not surprised by the change in the blondes demeanor.

"You have experienced spiritual awakening" Naruto stated not as a question but as a fact. Hiruzen nodded before chuckling.

"You know I used to have bright green eyes before but when I awakened, they turned a murky dark brown and my mother was livid. It was funny watching the two strongest men in the village get put on their knees and scolded like children" he finished with another chuckle as he reminisced about the past.

The blonde said nothing, he just stared at the man in front of him taking in all the things he had never noticed before his awakening. He had to admit, his grandfather was a BADASS.

Hiruzen finished his tea while Naruto had not even touched the cup. Sighing the older man put his hands above his head and stretched. "So" the man began "I'm coming with you" he finished this time shocking Naruto.

Naruto sat up straight, his eyes sharpening. "You cannot, the village needs you now. You cannot leave your post with all the forces that are threatening to destroy our village. The God of Shinobi cannot leave" Naruto replied with conviction.

The older man replied without breaking eye contact "I will not be gone for long; half a year or 1 would be enough for me to train you up to where i'm comfortable with you traveling alone." the man replied.

"But who will take up the mantle while you are gone?" Naruto asked worriedly for the village.

The hokage scoffed "For a person treated worse than horseshit you care a lot for this place." Hizuren scoffed out.

Naruto looked surprised at the man. Cursing seemed… wrong coming out of his mouth. "When I awoke I didn't just spiritually awaken but also acquired Spiritual Wisdom" Naruto replied finally breaking eye contact with the man and taking a sip from his tea.

His grandfather sitting across him broke into a small smile. "Ah you and I both" he replied getting up to grab the tea pot and filled him another helping. He placed the teapot in the middle of the table on a wooden moat.

Naruto looked curiously at his grandfather and connected the dots quickly. The reason his grandfather was able to advance past his rivals and outmaneuver his opponents through war was because he had unlocked his spiritual wisdom as well.

Finishing his cup of tea and pouring another helping Naruto asked "who is going to be replacing you for the time being?" The hokage broke out into a smile.

"Oh don't worry about that" Hiruzen said smirking the whole time. The older man summoned a monkey spirit, gave it a letter and sent it off. "I got that covered. We should be able to leave by tonight if he is within our borders. One and a half if he is across the world" he finished cackling evilly.

Naruto sweatdropped at his grandfather. 'When did he write that letter… and was it him who made orochimaru crazy' Naruto thought creeped out. He had never seen a hokage like this.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto's clock and sighed. "I have to be getting back to work, I have a bunch of paperwork to sign before I can transfer lead to my… temporary replacement. Once I get an update I will send one of my summons to catch you up with the details. Sounds good?" Hiruzen said while making his way to the door.

Naruto nodded and without a confirmation the old man walked out of his apartment and shut the door.

With a new found vigor Naruto got back in his meditative position and began to fall back into the core. Unfortunately the hokage opened the door and peeked his head through with an annoyed face.

"If I have to go to work and suffer you have to go to school and suffer. Get up" he said before slamming the door. Naruto shook his head and scoffed.

'The old man is mental. I'm 100% sure orochimaru is his fault' he thought before a loud pounding came from his door.

"Hurry it up! What are you doing, putting makeup on?" he heard the man obnoxiously say as he continued to pound.

Naruto scoffed again "Spiritual wisdom my ass" he grumbled before exiting the door and heading to the academy.

**Shinobi Academy 10 minutes later…**

Iruka made it back to the academy in between classes. He put up fake smiles for his students, his friend Mizuki and his peer but inside he was worried. His worry was misplaced as he believed that Naruto wanted to leave Konoha forever and that the hokage approved it.

5 minutes before the next class began Iruka was seated on the raised teachers podium at the front of the class. The room was big with 6 rows and 3 columns. In between each column a walkway of stairs as each row was elevated; lowest closest to the podium and tallest at the back of the class.

The class itself was less than a quarter full; the usual group really. Shikamaru Nara, a short pineapple shaped hair boy. He wore a fishnet hybrid shirt with black pants and black open toe sandals. He sat in the back middle row with his best friend Chouji Akamichi, a plump boy with a heart of gold and a stomach of iron. On each of his cheeks were red swirls and in his hand his trusty friend; potato chips.

Down a row all the way to the right by the window was Sasuke Uchiha, the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre. His older brother being the assailant, he has made his whole life based on attaining revenge. He was pale with black hair with spikes more tamed than Naruto's. On each side of his face were bangs reaching his chin. He also wore a blue Uchiha high collared shirt and white shorts; On his feet were open toed blue sandals.

Last in the front row all the way to the left was Shino Aburame, a brown haired boy who wore a huge light gray coat to cover up his body. If looked at closely you could see the bugs going in and out of the skin of his hands.

**Ring!**

Iruka sighed again for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day. It was only midday and his mind was not present. 'Maybe I should take a sick day?' Iruka thought while the class filed in.

Iruka was about to tell his friend Mizuki about him leaving early before two people walked up to him. The first thing he caught was the long blonde and pink hair. Iruka sighed again. "What is it Ino… Sakura?" He was not in the mood to hear them bash his little brother again. Instead he was greeting with something different than he expected.

"Um, Iruka-sensei. Naruto hasn't come to class in a while, is he ok?" Sakura, the pink haired one asked. She was petite which was to be expected of a 10 year old but even so she was skinnier than every girl in class. She wore a pink and red dress which turned into a skirt when it reached her waist. Underneath she wore black tights reaching to her knees.

"Yeah, he hasn't been here in awhile. I hate to admit it but… this place is really boring without him" the blonde followed up. She wore an armless purple dress which also turned into a skirt. Instead of black tights her thighs were wrapped in bandages. She also wore a purple scarf around her neck matching her dress.

Iruka looked surprised at this turnout. Before he could respond a loud brash voice broke through the room. "Yeah! That asshole, why does he get 10 days off when we're all here slaving away listening to boring lectures!"

This was Kiba Inuzuka, a slightly muscular youth who had a feral look to him. He was one of the tallest out of the class just behind shino. His brown hair was patted down by the gray hoodie he wore. He also wore black pants and was never seen without his partner Akamaru, an white, inuzuka breeded dog.

After his claims the class broke out into shouts. Most of the claims were that Naruto was skipping and Iruka was covering for him. Iruka began channeling Chakra to his head and vocal cords to do his famous demon head technique when the door opened loudly. All conversation stopped as they looked who was coming in.

Once they saw the orange they knew who it was. "NARUTO!" Sakura yelled with a smile on her face. 'He can save us from dying of boredom please please do something stupid please!' She thought he was hoping he would kick his delinquency 10 fold for a mission the past 10 days.

Instead Kiba and Akamaru were in front of him slashing his claws to his cut and biting him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOT '' Sakura yelled while the rest of the class watched on in shock. Even Sasuke took a second from looking out the window to see what was going on.

The attack did not hit as Naruto jumped back avoiding the attack.

Akamaru and Kiba began growling "That is not Naruto! Who are you!" he angrily claimed. His body tense ready to launch another attack at the imposter.

'What is Kiba on about of course this is Naruto. He is slim, wears that awful orange jumpsuit and blonde spiky hair! His eyes are ev- wha' her thoughts cut when Naruto's eyes were revealed. Instead of the magnificent blue she was used to they were dark, as if no light were being reflected from them. A blackhole.

Kiba growled again "Who are you and what have you done to Naruto!" Kiba demanded again while getting ready to jump. Iruka jumped in between the two stopping Kiba. "Sensei!?" Kiba cried asking why their sensei was defending an imposter.

Instead of getting a response Iruka walked over to Naruto standing in arms reach. Their eyes met and Iruka froze. What if Kyuubi took over Naruto? If Naruto is watching right now as the Kyuubi controlled his every move. 10 days is a lot of time for the king of all tailed beasts to break free. He had to share this wit- huh. The look Naruto was giving him; he knew that look from anywhere. Deep beneath the darkness was a light, the same light Naruto's eyes always shined when he had done something mischievous.

Putting his right hand on his shoulder Iruka smiled "Welcome back Naruto".

"Thank you Sensei" Naruto said with a small bow before walking past him to take a seat. Everyone had looked at him with shock.

Naruto, showing respect to anyone? SINCE WHEN

"Kiba might have been on to something"

"Maybe we should report it to the Hokage"

"Mmm Troublesome"

"Hn"

All these whispers were heard by Naruto as he made his way to a seat but he never broke his indifferent expression. Sakura stood on the 4th row of the stairs Naruto was passing hoping he would say hello to her.

**SO I CAN SHUT HIM DOWN AGAIN SHANNARO** ***Cue explosions***

Instead he walked right past her up to the last row and took a seat in the furthest right corner, a table which no one sat in.

Everyone looked at him weirdly as he always tried to ask Sakura on a date and even sit next to her just to get shut down. One thought ran through everyone's mind, even Sasukes. What happened to Naruto in the past 10 days.

**30 Minutes later…**

The tense atmosphere had not let up in fact it had gotten even worse. Iruka was sitting unresponsive so Mizuki took control of the class. The rest of the class while facing forward were in fact not paying attention. Every now and then they would turn and look at Naruto. He was sitting there staring out the window not making any noise, causing any trouble or… doing Naruto things!

Even Mizuki couldn't take it any longer and decided to get the brat to speak. "Naruto! What is the solution to this equation?" he asked with a spiciness to his voice.

Naruto didn't turn his head, only his eyes for a second. He turned his eyes back to the window. "47 degrees" he said shocking Mizuki.

"C-correct" Mizuki admitted shocking most of the class as the problem on the board was not an easy problem. It was even harder to do mentally. While the whole class was freaking out Naruto was surprised. He shouldn't know that answer… but he did. Not that he knew the answer right away but he was able to do the math efficiently in his mind.

'So this is the power of Spiritual Wisdom huh' he thought allowing the smallest of smiles to appear on his face. Mizuki began writing problems from a book on the board that Jounin level Ninja would have hard times answering.

Before he could ask Naruto glanced at the problems for a second and answered. "213.4, 67.4 degrees, physically impossible" he said as if it were a matter of fact before turning back to the window.

The book from Mizuki's hand fell, his mouth wide open. 'What the fuck is going on' he thought to himself. The class was thinking the same and decided to expose the blonde.

"Sensei that isn't correct right? He just got lucky the first time and is making up answers now?" an unimportant boy asked.

Mizuki regained his bearings and cleared his throat "No, everything he said was correct" surprising the entire class. Even Shikimaru was shocked as it took him at least 4 seconds to solve the problems.

'Interesting but oh so troublesome *plop*'

Mizuki was about to begin his lecture when a small monkey appeared on the teachers stand on the podium. Mizuki tried to talk to the summons of the hokage but he was ignored, instead the monkey was searching the students for his recipient.

"Ah found you" the spirit said before teleporting to the desk Naruto sat at. Naruto turned to the monkey, accepted the letter from him and nodded. The monkey nodded before disappearing.

"A letter from hokage-sama"

"What is going on…"

Whispers began to circulate the room as Naruto began opening the letter. Sasuke looked intrigued now. Just like him the whole class was wondering what was in the letter but before they could ask what that was about Naruto stood up, packed his things and made his way to the front of the class.

He stood in front of Iruka still in a dazed state and shook him. "OY Sensei!" He tried to reach him but failed. He frowned. "brother" Naruto said startling the class and Mizuki with the level of familiarity the gesture carried. Iruka's eyes cleared and snapped to Naruto.

"Little brother" Iruka replied. Naruto gave him a small smile.

"It's time for me to go…" he trailed off.

'Go where' was the question circulating through the class.

Iruka held a small frown. He didn't approve of what Naruto was doing but if his leader approved he had to swallow that pill. "It's already that time huh…" he said standing up from his seat. He held his arms up straight in a 'come here' pose. Naruto did the same and gave him a huge.

When they broke Naruto began walking towards the door. He opened the door and walked halfway out then stopped; His hand resting on the frame. He turned his head back and smoothly said "I'll see you soon…brother" before going out the door and never looking back.

A couple of hearts skipped a beat there, even some guys.

Iruka stood there, trying to grasp what was going on. 'I may not know where you are going or why you are leaving but… come home safe otouto' he thought a hopeful smile on his face before turning around and grilling his students for slacking in their studies.

**Hokage's Office 10 minutes later…**

Naruto was surprised at how fast he got an update. Whatever his grandfather threatened this person with must have been very important for them to be in Konoha this fast. He opened the door to the hokages office and saw a huge man with cascading white hair. His old fashion clothing and headplate with the title 'Toad sage' immediately told Naruto who he was.

Before he could speak, Hokage spoke. "Ah, Naruto. Come in, I was just finishing the paperwork for my student here to take over for my time gone." the hokage spoke while the white haired man was… sulking in one of the two seats in front of him.

The while haired man named Jiraiya was going to complain to his sensei but was just told off with 'I don't care' or 'suck it up'. Naruto took the other unoccupied seat in front of the hokage and got comfortable. He looked over to the Toad sage and began to be curious. The man had yet to look at him.

"Did I mention that Jiraiya here is your godfather?" the hokage casually spilled out making the toad sage break out hysterically. His face was wide open and panic'd as he began to sputter.

"S-sensei! What the hell" Jiraiya yelled out as the man had dropped his most shameful secrets. He had planned to tell his godson on his own terms but now that it was out he put his head down. Would his godson be disgusted by him? Want nothing to do with him? Will he-

His inner muse was silenced by a hand held in front of him. "Hello father, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. It is good to finally meet you" Naruto addressed himself. Jiraya looked up into his godson's eyes for the first time and didn't find what he believed he would find. The most prevalent was longing, second was understanding and lastly the strongest was love.

Jiraiya didn't understand as he clenched his fist. He jumped out of his seat and went to the floor on his knees and bowed; his head touching the ground towards his greatest failure. "I am sorry!" the man screamed in passion.

Naruto was silent as the man's head touched the ground then he smiled and laughed. Naruto grabbed the man's hands and began pulling him up to his feet. "Even though it is not necessary to do so I forgive you. If you would have stayed here with me and abandoned your duty I would have been disappointed" Naruto said making his godfathers eyes go wide.

"I… do not understand," the white haired man replied. His godson was nothing like he believed him to be.

Naruto did his own bow taking his right fist in his left hand. "If you were here my life would have been easier" the youth began making his god father winced. "But, by not being here I have matured in ways I would not have. In your absence you have given me a safer village to grow in. For that I thank you." Naruto finished still in a bow.

His godfather took his hands making him look up. Again, he looked in the blondes eyes for any deception. The deeper he dug the more the more surprised he became. He was convinced that the bo-no man in front of him was telling the truth. Jiraiya sighed. "I am unworthy of such a welcoming" he said truly feeling as such.

Naruto smiled. "And yet it is the welcoming I am giving you. Please, accept it" Naruto replied switching their hands so his hands were cupping the larger man's. The hole in the toad sages heart began to fill. When it was all full a fire could be seen coming out of his eyes.

"Before you leave allow this old fool to take his grandson out" he relied with vigor. He had made up his mind. From now on he would do whatever his grandson needed of him; whether taking over the village or dying to hold off ten thousand enemies.

The hokage meanwhile was pouting 'I had been trying to make him take over the village for an hour with no leeway and Naruto comes in and makes him into jello in a heartbeat. Oh yeah, fuck the man who basically raised you Jiraiya you ungrateful shi-' the hokage thoughts continued as they continued talking.

Jiraiya signed the papers his teacher had been trying to get him to sign before turning to his godson. "How about we get some lunch?" he said hopefully. Naruto returned that with a smile. Before he left he took a piece of paper and pen, wrote on it and left it in front of his grandfather.

"Let's go" Naruto said grabbing his father's hand leading him out the door.

**Konoha's Western Gate 8 hours later…**

It was night time for the konoha residents. The cool crisp air kneading through the trees and grass gave off a calm whisper. As store owners closed their businesses and students made their way home from their group of friends Naruto stood at the gates, waiting.

He laid his back to one of the trees surrounding the gates. This gate in particular was the least inhabited with villagers. Instead, ever growing nature thrived here giving the place a vibe of secludedness. The gateguards sat at their checkpoint near the gate checking the clock in the booth religiously. In 10 minutes they would close the gates and go back into civilization to party.

Naruto closed his eyes and began to recall his bonding time with his father. The man had asked about himself, his dreams, about his friends and… potential lovers. Naruto in turn told him all about his life in konoha, that he didn't know what his dream was. About his grandfather and older brother who looked out for him. The topic of lovers however lead into a deep discussion. Naruto stated he was too young to have such thoughts.

Jiraiya however opened up to him telling him of his first love Tsunade, the slug sannin. For hours Naruto sat and listened as Jiraiya painted him a vivid picture of her. Naruto could clearly see the man was lovestricken and yet had not made any progress in his 44 years of life. He had also learned the man's deepest secret that could ruin him... the man was a virgin.

Naruto was surprised to learn that as he knew the type of books he wrote but the man admitted that he had no trouble bedding women but every time he tried his mind would wander elsewhere… Tsunade. At that point Naruto made up his mind, he would help his father on his journey of gaining the affection of the Slug Sannin.

Naruto heard someone hit the ground next to him and got up from his seated position. He looked at his grandfather and nodded. His grandfather nodded back. "Let us go" he said before signing out at the booth.

"Safe travels hokage-sama!" the two went to the middle of the humongous gate and bowed as the two went on their way. Once they were out of sight they closed the gate and went to retrieve the sign in/out sheet and made their way home.

"Hey Izumo '' one of the guards began as they walked down the path to the village center.

"Hmm?" Izumo hummed back.

"Who was that person with hokage-sama?" the other guard asked curiously. The person had been wearing a huge black coat with his head down.

Izumo scoffed. "Does it matter kotetsu? He was with hokage-sama. That's none of our business" he said ending the discussion there.

The now named kotetsu seemed a little miffed at his friend's response. "Yeah yeah…" he returned before putting his hands above his head in a stretch. A perverted smile made its way on his face "Let go to the broken log… Maybe we will find some honey's to take home with us" he said as a perverted smile made its way on Izumo's face.

"ONWARDS COMRADE!" Izumo yelled as they both ran full speed to turn in the sign in sheet and to the bar. They did not get lucky that night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Into the belly of the beast

**Hokage's office 5 days later…**

Jiraiya was frustrated. It seemed as if the papers were multiplying by the second and he was not enough manpower to get through it all. Most of the papers were pointless for him to look at; tax papers, business openings and permanent residency are just a few examples of the useless things he has to approve.

Things would change or he would never have time to write his new book. Speaking of books he recalled the lunch he had with his godson and took a contemplative face. He would never forget the wisdom his godson spoke.

_As long as you and her are alive the road will always be there. You just have to be courageous enough to take the first step._

Those words stuck to him ever since. He began plotting a new story; one of a man who had everything but the one thing he wanted. An unrequited romance due to the man's manner of becoming a mess when with her. Jiraiya sighed while leaning back into his seat, writing this book was rough. Compared to his other books he was writing it at a slugs pace.

His eyes turned to the giant stack of paper and saw a letter. Picking it up he smiled. His sensei and godson had finally sent a letter. He lost his smile as he read the contents of the letter. The two were currently at the border of fire country about to enter the land of rivers; a small neighboring country between the land of wind and fire.

Jiraiya had no idea where they were headed but he prayed for their safe travels. Before he could contemplate some more his assistant came in and placed another stack on his desk.

"Here are more papers Hokage-sama" she said before walking out. Jiraiya got teary eyed.

"Come back soon Sensei!" Jiraiya cried to the heavens.

**Border of Fire and River**

Sadistic. Old. Man.

Three words Naruto would use to describe his grandfather. Since the day they left he had been drilling the blonde physically, spiritually and mentally. Every night the youth would drop dead into sleep but that did not mean he wasn't satisfied.

He could tell he was getting stronger each day and that was all that matter to him.

"Where are we going old man?" Naruto asked his grandfather as they made their way to the border. The trees near the border seemed withered but not from lack of nutrients. They seemed to droop and curve as if the trees could not support itself. The floor and air seemed more saturated, as if more humid.

His grandfather mumbled in return pissing the blonde off more. In they're five days of travel Naruto had been drilling the man for information but got nothing.

Five minutes later they made it to the border. The stone indication was mossy and had bugs littered all over. With a small push of windlike water from his grandfather the stone was clean from the moss and bugs. Naruto studied the man as he did so. It made his reminisce to the lessons his grandfather taught him on the journey.

**Flashback 3 days ago…**

Naruto laid eagle spread on the ground panting harshly as he had just finished training for the day. The old man sat next to him sipping on some tea he brewed during his training.

Throughout their journey the old man had taught him the history of Chakra. Apparently Chakra is not the energy that we manipulate but the laws in which the energy must follow. The hand signs we make to manipulate the energy are encoding to make our nodes react in certain ways.

According to the old man the ways of the war were much more destructive in the past. The amount of soldiers who could manipulate energy were much smaller but their quality made up for it. Unfortunately, Chakra was developed and the world jumped on the bandwagon. Instead of one behemoth leading a force there were thousands of mini behemoths.

Over time Chakra was adopted in every country overshadowing the teachings of the cultivation. Now, it was just a legend passed around as a myth.

The old man broke me out of thought as he set down his teacup. "Did you know that chakra is a weakness?" he asked Naruto, making him surprised. He had never thought of it as weakness but rather laziness. Waiting for a bit for Naruto to think the hokage began "Chakra is powerful but its flaws are numerous. For example, energy consumption; A chakra follower uses a huge excess of energy when casting jutsus. They put enough energy in a C rank jutsu to cast an A rank. That does not mean the jutsu will be an A rank power because that excess energy is lost. They lack precision, one of the major weaknesses of the laws of chakra" he finished taking a sip from his tea again.

Naruto looked at him curiously. He wondered what other flaws the laws contain. The older man said nothing as he closed his eyes. After a few seconds he raised his right arm straight out and opened his eyes.

"Look closely Naruto as I show you Chakras biggest flaw" he lectured making Naruto sit up a little straighter. Soon fire was coming out of his hands, the orange flames bountiful as they scorched the earth. Suddenly the constant stream of flames changed, becoming leaner and the color compact. The earth began evaporating under the denser flame.

Naruto's eyes widened as the stream of flames from his grandfather's hands began to become violent and uncontrolled. By the second they were becoming sharper. Instead of the heat from the waves of fire warming his skin the hairs on top of his head began to stand straight. The blondes jaw could not have gotten any lower as he watched the fire transmutate from flames to lightning and yet it wasn't.

The looks of the flame were unchanged but their properties were now of lightning. No longer were the flames kissing the skin of the earth but penetrating it uplifting the dirt in a sporadic manner. His grandfather cut his flames of lightning off and returned his arm to his side.

Naruto was speechless; He had so many questions! "What was that! That was so cool! I don't even think a jounin ninja can- " he stopped abruptly as he came to a realization. 'A user of chakra would not be able to do that' he thought, his face making a mark of realization. His grandfather nodded.

"Chakra is tense. It's laws restrict our potential, making a bastardized version. It is sloppy, mechanical and wasteful. Our energy comes from us and yet we try to control it through means machine-like means. We are not bolts and screws but flesh and blood. The way we deal with energy must be organic and humanistic." he finished his lecture by taking another sip from his tea.

Naruto reiterated his previous statement in his mind. 'This old man may be crazy but he is a badass… A crazy badass' he thought before passing out.

**Flashback end…**

As they crossed the border into the land of river Naruto's mind was running; Reiterating through all his thoughts since seeing that show of power from his grandfather. 'Lightning earth, Watery lightning, Earthly winds, liquid flames...' Naruto began to ramble off in his mind.

His grandfather however was on alert. His eyes narrowed as they continued towards their destination.

Suddenly the earth under them began the rumble, then shake and finally uplift. The hokage's battle hardened senses made him act; jumping away from the threat on instinct. Naruto however did not as he was still stuck in his rambling.

"Naruto!" the hokage yelled as he began his sprint to the unaware youth. The yell was enough to break him out of his dazed. He looked to his grandfather.

"Yea-" he got cut off as he was engulfed by teeth coming from the tethering ground. At full height the monster was as big as a mountain. The gray, hardened shell on its back was unblemished and filled with deadly spikes. Its limbs and face are the same murky gray as its shell, filled with less spikes than its back.

Its torso plump like a balloon with red lines leading from its tail to its face. One of its eyes were closed with the other depicting its insanity. The veteran could feel his hope drop from his head into his stomach when he looked at its venomous tails swaying angrily.

The three tailed demon turtle.

"**KURAMA!" **The beast yelled a name shaking the land and snapping surrounding trees. The hokage remained apathetic to the monster in front of him. Instead he looked up at the beast, straight in its eyes. The beast returned the look he was getting and felt fear creeping into his body.

"**Who are you human" **the beast demanded insecurely with the stare the human was giving him. Before he could blink he was flying, toiling through trees and rivers. He got back to his feet, shaking his head first before looking for what sent him flying.

In its place was the ma-no, demon holding a demonic bo staff taller than itself. The demon chuckled darkly **"Oh me? Well"** the demonic man smiled viciously. **"You can just call your reaper."** he stated before disappearing into nothingness.

Feeling a presence above it the beast looked up to see the bo staff enlarged to the size of a small mountain, the demon man sitting on the edge of the top. His face could be seen clearly by the beast. A crazed smile was on its face. **"DIE"** the demon man cackled crazily. His body is now fully engulfed in darkness. The darkness itself shaped into a mould of a man but each of his ends sharpened.

The beast could only think of one thing before the staff crushed him

**Shit**


End file.
